Rapunzel's Tower
by Tweeter
Summary: ONESHOT. Written for the Anywhere but here challenge on NCISFlashfic. A young girl is kidnapped.


A/N: This story was originally written for a challenge on NCIS Flashfic, on Live Journal. The challenge was called "Anywhere But Here" and involved putting the team in a location other than their usual home in DC. This story is unbeta'd, written rather quickly, so all mistakes are mine and mine alone. I do not own the characters and I'm not making money from this little piece. I hope it doesn't seem rushed, I was trying to make a deadline.

**Rapunzel's Tower**

The team was at the Great Lakes Naval Station investigating the kidnapping of the daughter of a Navy Captain stationed there. The child was only 6 years old, with wheat-gold hair and blue eyes. Captain Munson received a ransom note tied to the stuffed animal his daughter slept with, demanding $250,000 in small, unmarked bills.

Special Agent Gibbs and his team had set up a command center at the Captain's house, waiting for a call from the kidnappers. Abby Sciuto was standing by in Washington, ready to trace the call when it came in.

"Agent Gibbs," Munson said, nervously, "I don't want anything to go wrong. I already have a bad feeling about talking to you, and now…" he indicated the buzz of activity in his living room. "…I feel really nervous about all of this."

Gibbs tried to reassure the man, "Captain, I promise that we will get your daughter back. We're not going to do anything to risk her safety."

"But we're probably being watched," argued the father, "I knew this was a mistake," he muttered, turning to join his wife by the phone.

"He may be right," Ziva David came up behind the senior agent. "The kidnappers probably know that the authorities are involved. We may never find the child."

Gibbs glared at her and walked off.

Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo was watching the exchange between Gibbs and David and walked up to Ziva. "One thing you don't want to do, Ziva," he said softly, "is tell Gibbs that he can't help a child. He won't even think about failing, and he won't tolerate anyone suggesting that he will."

Ziva turned to Tony, "What do you think, Tony?" she asked. "Have you ever been in a situation like this when you were with the police?"

Tony paused, "Not often, thank god, but yeah, I have. Cases involving children are never easy. I prefer to keep my thoughts to myself on this one. Hope for the best. Hope that Gibbs' gut won't fail us for the first time."

* * *

After a few tense hours, the phone rang. Captain Munson picked up the handset while Gibbs told Abby to start the trace. The kidnappers were smart and kept the call short and concise. 

"Sorry Gibbs," Abby's disappointment was evident, even on the screen of the laptop through which they were communicating. "The guy had a cell phone and he kept moving around. I can only tell you that he's within Chicago's city limits."

"Chicago's a big city, Abby" Gibbs said.

"I know, but that's the best I could do," Abby replied.

Gibbs sighed, "Okay, Abs. Thanks for trying." He closed the connection and rubbed his hand over his face.

"Now what, Boss," asked Tony.

"Now, we make the drop."

* * *

The kidnappers had insisted that Captain Munson make the drop himself. A tracking device was hidden inside the bag holding the money, while another was placed on the captain. The money was left in the designated area. Now all they had to do was wait. 

"Something's not right," Gibbs muttered. He and Tony were in a sedan a few blocks away from the drop-off point, watching the tracking signal on a small monitor in the car. "It's been three hours."

"Gibbs, we got a call from the kidnappers," McGee's voice crackled over the radio. "They left a message, 'Rapunzel is in her tower'."

Gibbs started the engine and tore off to where the money was. The bag was in place, but was empty.

"Damn it," swore Gibbs, throwing the bag down in disgust. "How did they get past us?"

* * *

The mood in the Munson living room was tense. Captain Munson and his wife had gone to the bedroom, distraught that the money had been taken and their daughter was still missing. 

"Rapunzel is in her tower," Tony said, thoughtfully. "You don't think he could mean Sears Tower, do you?"

"The Sears Tower has 110 floors and has a total of 4 million square feet of office and commercial space," said McGee, "it'll take forever to search the place, even if we start in the public areas."

"We'll do what we have to do, McGee," growled Gibbs. "Get more people in here for the search. I want the local police involved, the building's maintenance and cleaning crew, MP's. Move it!"

Tony stood staring at the map of the city.

"Today, DiNozzo," barked Gibbs.

"Wait a minute, Boss," Tony said. "There's another possibility. Probie, is your computer hooked up to the internet?"

"Yeah, it is," McGee brought the machine over to Tony.

Tony pulled up Google and typed in a keyword phrase. He clicked on a link and grinned. "Boss," he called, "does this look like Rapunzel's Tower to you?"

Gibbs strode impatiently to DiNozzo and looked at the computer. He grinned slowly, then slapped Tony's back. "That's good thinking, Tony. Let's move."

* * *

The door to the historic Water Tower pumping station was open a crack, despite the fact that it was after hours. Carefully, Gibbs and his team moved into the darkened building. They quietly headed toward the area off limits to visitors and tourists. Making their way up the tower via the circular staircase, they slipped into the small room in the cupola at the top. 

Samantha Munson lay curled up in a corner. Gibbs approached her quietly, not wanting to startle the little girl.

"Samantha," he whispered, touching her gently. The little girl stirred and opened her eyes, blinkingowlishly at the agent.

"Samantha," Gibbs said softly, "I'm Jethro. I'm here to take you home."

"Did I win the pony?" the little girl asked sleepily.

"Pony?"

"The man said if I won hide-and-seek I would get a pony. Did I hide long enough?" Samantha sat up, rubbing her eyes.

Gibbs chuckled, "I don't know about that, sweetie, you'll have to ask your parents."

Gibbs carried the little girl down the stairs. where his team was waiting for him.

"Hey Samantha," Tony said, smiling brightly at the little girl. "I'm Tony."

"Hi Tony," Samantha said shyly. She turned to Gibbs and asked, "Can we play again? That was fun."

"Sure, Samantha," Gibbs said, walked to the exit, "This time Tony'll hide. We might even look for him."

"Gee, thanks Boss."

**A/N**: This story idea came to me as I was walking down Michigan Avenue on a very hot and humid Saturday afternoon. While waiting for the light to change I heard someone behind me say, "Doesn't that look like Rapunzel's Tower?" referring to the Water Tower across the street from us. Voila, a plot bunny was born. You can see a picture of the historic Water Tower here, check it out, it's a cool building. http:**doubleslash**en**dot**wikipedia**dot**org**slash**wiki**slash**Chicago**underscore**Water**underscore**Tower (type in the doubleslash, dot, dot, slash and underscore where indicated. fanfictiondotnet won't let me post a link)


End file.
